Collapsible filing drawer



Nov. 8, 1938. H. l.. FELLOWES Y 2,136,184

COLLAPSIBLE FILING DRAWER Filed July 14, 1957 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 ggg-1.6". l

Nv. 8, 1938. H. l.. FELLOWES 2,136,184

COLLPSIBLE FILING DRAWER Filed July 14, 1937 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 N0?. 8, 1938. H L, FELLOWES 2,136,184

COLLAPS IBLE F ILING DRAWER Filed July 14, 1957 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Patented Nov. 8, 1938 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Bankers Box Company, Chicago, Ill.,

poration of Illinois Application July 14, 1937, Serial No. 153,629

4 Claims.

My invention contemplates and provides a novel and advantageous collapsible filing drawer which may be fabricated very largely of paper board and which, when in erected assembly, is very 5 strong, and of neat and sturdy appearance.

By the term filing drawer." as herein used, is meant a drawer adapted to slide in and out of a drawer holding case and employed for day-today or transfer filing.

A salient object of the present invention is to provide a novel filing drawer which may be shipped folded at and easily and quickly opened and secured in erected position by the user.

Another important object of the invention is 18 to provide a filing drawer which is strong, rigid,

of pleasing appearance, and which may be manufactured at very low cost.

A further object of the invention is to provide a tiling drawer having a front higher than the 20 sides, and which has novel means for adding strength and rigidity to the iront.

These and other objects and advantages will become apparent during the course of the following description.

In the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification, and in which like numerals are employed to designate like parts throughout the same:

Fig. l is a plan view of a paper board blank from which a filing drawer embodying this invention may be fabricated;

Fig. 2 is a right rear perspective view of the drawer blank partially folded;

Fig. 3 is a left front perspective view of the erected drawerwith the bottom liner exploded out of the other parts of the drawer;

Fig. 4 is a longitudinal vertical sectional view of the drawer taken in the direction of the arrows along the line 4 4 of Fig. 5;

| Fig. 5 is a lateral vertical sectional view of the drawer taken in the direction of the arrows along the line 5 5 of Fig. 4 with a portion of the inner front wall broken away to show the side iiaps and reinforcing member;

; Fig. 6 is a horizontal sectional view of the front portion of the drawer taken in the direction of the arrows along the line 8 8 of Fig. 5;

Fig. '7 is a longitudinal vertical sectional view through a portion ot the back wall taken in the direction of the arrows along the line 1 1 of Fig. 3:

Fig. 8 is a plan view, on a reduced scale, of the blank which forms the reinforcing member for the drawer front;

Fig. 9 is a plan view similar to Fig. 1 but showing the blank for a shallower drawer and a modied construction preferable for shallow drawers;

Fig. l0 is a plan view of the blank for the reinforcing member for the drawer front of the form of Fig, 9;

Fig. 1l is a longitudinal medial section of the front end of `the drawer of the form oi Fig. 9 showing the drawer front partially folded into position.;

Fig. 12 is a transverse vertical' section through the drawer of Fig. 9 looking toward the inside face of the drawer front, with a portion of the return iiap broken away, taken on the line I2 I2 of Fig. 13 and comparable with Fig. 5: and

Fig. 13 is a vertical medial longitudinal section taken on the line I8 I8 of Fig. l2, comparable with the right hand side of Fig. 4 and like Fig. 1l except that lt shows the drawer front completed.

The drawer consists of a flat sheet I8 cut and scored to form a rectangular bottom I2 near the center of the blank, with side walls I4 and side wall extensions I8 on either side, a rear wall I8 and rear wall extension 28 at one end, and a iront wal 22 and iront wall extension 24 at the other end of the botom section I2.

The side walls I4 and side wall extensions I6 are provided with rearwardy extending flaps 26 and 28, respectively, and forwardly extending iiaps 88 and 82, respectively. The above several parts of the drawer are divided from each other by longitudinal parallel scores 34, 38, 38, and 48, and by lateral parallel scores 42, 44, 46, and 48. The scores 84 and 88 divide the bottom I2 of the drawer from the two side walls I4, while the scores 88 and 48 divide the side walls I4 from the side wall extensions I8. I'he score 42 divides the bottom I2 from the rear wall I8, and also divides the rearwardly extending aps 28 and 28 from the side walls I4 and side wall extensions, I8 respectively. The score 44 divides the front wall 22 and forwardly extending flaps 88 and 32 from the bottom I2, side walls I4, and side wal extensions I8, respectively. The score 48 separates the rear wall I8 from the rear wall extension 28, while the score 48 separates the front wall 22 from the front wall extension 24.

The flaps 28, 28, 88, and 22 are separated from each other and from the front and back walls 22 and Il by knife cuts 88 and 52 and by narrow slots 54 and Il along the longitudinal scores 34, 38, 28, and 48 extending inwardly to the lateral scores 42 and 44.

The length of the ilaps 28, 28, 88, and 32 is slightly less than one-half Athe width of the front and rear walls 22 and Il, so that when the drawer is folded, as will be later described, the ends of these iiaps will cosely approach each other, but will not overlap.

The dimensions of the rear wall I8 between the scores 42 and 46 is slightly greater than the height of the side walls I4, while a similar dimension of the front wall 22, i. e., between the scores 44 and 48, I prefer tomake considerably greater. The front wall is made higher than the side walls, so that when the drawer is in use the side walls will oder less interference to inserting and withdrawing papers from the drawer than would otherwise be true.

The front wall 22 has secured to its inner face a reinforcing member 58 which may' be conveniently formed from two thicknesses of paper board secured together. member 58 is formed from the E-shaped blank of Fig. 8 by folding the ends inwardly abouti the dotted score lines indicated. The reinforcing member 58 is T shaped, with the arms 60 of the T extending across the front wall 22 from side to side, while its top edge 62 is adjacent to the score 48. The lower edges 84 oi' the arms BII are spaced from the score 44 a distance equal to the height of the side walls I4, so that when the drawer is folded, the reinforcing member 58 will aid in supporting that portion of the front wall 22 which is above the side walls I4, and will also serve to engage the tops of the flaps 89 and 82 and secure them in proper position, as best shown in Fig. 5. The stem 66 of the T shaped reinforcing member 58 fits into reentrant right angles 88 and 19 formed in the front iiaps 39 and I2, thereby distributing over a larger area the strain on the naps caused by their attempting to move upward- 1y. This stem 66 also serves to give added rigidity to that portion of the reinforcing member I8 which extends above the side walls I4 and supports the top portion of the drawer front.

In erecting the drawer, the side walls I4 are bent upwardly perpendicular to the bottom I2, and the side wall extensions I6 turned inwardly and downwardly against the side walls, so that the side walls and side wall extensions together form a double thickness wail for the drawer with a smooth turned edge uppermost. Next, the end naps 28, 28, 30, and 32 are turned inwardly across the ends of the drawer and enclosed within the end walls I8 and 22 and end wail extensions 2l and 24, which are folded in a manner similar to the folding ofthe side walls and side wall extensions. In folding the iront wall and4 front wall extension, care should be exercised to insure the proper fitting of the reentrant angles B8 and 1I around the stem 66 of the T shaped reinforcing member 58.

When the drawer is folded, properly located holes 12 in the iiaps are brought into alignment with holes 'I4 in the end walls and end wail extensions. In this position, screws 16 are inserted through each set of aligned holes 12 and 'I4 and secured by nuts 18. Because of the thickness of the paper board, the portions of the end wall extensions 29 and 24-which are folded inside the drawer are provided with reentrant right angles 88 which are as long as the height of the side walls I4. and as wide as the thickness of the double walls.

For the same reason, i. e., because oi the thickness of the paper board, theiiaps 28 and l2 at the ends of the side wall extensions I6 are slightly shorter, best seen in Fig. I, than the aps 28 and 30 at the ends of the side walls I4. y

Preferably the reinforcing bottom I2.

To strengthen the bottom I2 of the drawer, I prefer to add to the above a rectangular paper board bottom liner 82, cut to proper size, which is inserted into the drawer and pressed against the This bottom liner 82 also servesy to urge the lower edges oi the side wall extensions I8 tightly against the side walls I4, and thereby provides square interior corners 84 between the bottom of the drawer and its side walls.

To aid in withdrawing the above drawer from its case, a handle 86 is secured to the front oi the drawer by means of nuts 88 and screws SII passed through aligned holes 82, which are formed in the paper board during the manufacture of the drawer blank. To prevent the tendency of the screws 9|! to pull through the paper board, these screws may be supplied with washers 84 beneath their heads. The passing of the screws 99 through the four thicknesses of paper board strengthens the drawer front as well as providing a convenient method for attaching the handle 8B.

In Figs. 9 to 13, inclusive, I have shown a shallower drawer of generally similar construction, but differing somewhat especially in the' form and arrangement of the reinforcement for the drawer front, this being preferable where the drawer is relatively shallow. In Figs. 9 to 13 the primed reference characters are to be understood as the same as or corresponding to the similarly numbered parts in the previous characters.

In the form oi Figs. 9 to 13 I do not laterally interengage the reinforcing member Il' with the extensions 8D and 32'. The reinforcing member 58 takes the form of a simple straight-sided filler of double thicknessinterposed between the upper edges ci the extensions 28' and 82' and the bight formed by the front wall 22' and its return-folded extension 24. The reinforcing member 58' is a narrow strip of a length twice the width of the drawer. The ends of the member 88' are folded inwardly so that they abut at the center. The mating faces of the main body and the return-folded ends of the member 58' are glued together. The reinforcing member 58' is then glued to the inside face of the front wail 22' adjacent its double score 48'.

'Ihe drawer blank ls folded up into its completed and assembled position in substantially the same manner as the rst form. As shown in Figs. 11 and 13, as the front wall 22', carrying the reinforcing member I8', is swung up into vertical position, the reinforcing member assumes a position immediately above the extensions 39' and 82' and constitutes a ller of the same'thickness as the overall thicknesses oi' the extensions and 82'. The completed and assembled drawer front thus consists throughout of four thicknesses of stock, to the exclusion of any hollows.

Fis. 9 shows the scorings f aud 48 extended across the extensions 28. 2B', 39' and l2. The scoring serves no use! purpose on the extensions. I have shown them, however, because in practice it is easier to extend the scoring across the extensions than to swing the extensions out of the path of the scorer. This is a situation encountered where the height of the front or rear wall is less than half Vthe width of the drawer.

It will be seen that filing drawers, when conf structed in accordance with this invention, will have double thickness side and bottom walls and four thicknesses in theend walls. Also the tops of the drawer walls will all have turned edges, thereby providing a smooth surface.

Thus'. the 'I6 drawer is very strong, rigid, of neat appearance, and eilicient in use, even though constructed `largely of paper board at very low cost.

Although I have described a preferred embodiment of my invention, it should be understood that I contemplate that departures may be made therefrom, and that the scope of my invention is to be limited solely by the following claims.

I claim:

1. A file drawer comprising, a bottom wall; an end wall and side walls attached to said bottom wall: an end wall extension and side wall extensions attached to the end wall and side walls respectively; said end wall being higher than said side walls and having a member to reinforce the portion of said end wall above said side walls; and aps attached to said side walls and side wall extensions, said flaps being in the same plane as said reinforcing member and enclosed between the end wall and end wall extension.

2. A le drawer comprising, a bottom wall; an end wall and side walls attached to said bottom wall: an end wall extension and side wall extensions attached to the end wall and side walls respectively; said end wall being higher than said side walls and having a member to reinforce the portion of said nd wall above said side walls; ilaps attached to said side walls and side wall extensions, said iiaps being in the same plane as said reinforcing member and enclosed between the end wall and end wall extension;I and means to reinforce the bottom of said drawer and hold said side wall extensions against said side walls; said means comprising a removable inner bottom.

3. A paper board le drawer comprising, a bottom wall; an end wall and side walls attached to said bottom wall, said end wall being higher than said side walls; a reinforcing member for said end wall, a portion of said reinforcing member substantially covering the inner surface of said end wall above said side walls; another portion of said reinforcing member fractionally covering the portion of said end wall below the tops of said side walls; end wall and side wall extensions attached to said end and side walls; ilaps attached to said side walls and side wall extensions, and adapted to be enclosed between said end wall and end wall extension in the same plane as said reinforcing member, and means to reinforce the bottom of said drawer and hold said side wall extensions against said side walls, said means comprising a removable inner bottom.

4. A collapsed paper board filing drawer comprising an integral blank having a central bottom wall, side walls extending laterally from the side edges of the bottom, side wall extensions extending laterally from the outer edges of the side walls, aps extending from the front and rear ends of the side walls and side wall extensions, a rear wall extending from one end of the bottom, a rear wall extension extending rearwardly from the rear wall, a front wall of greater height than the side walls and extending from the other end of the bottom, and a front wall extension extending forwardly from the front wall, the flaps being of a length substantially half the width of the bottom whereby, when the side walls are swung to vertical position and their extensions swung downwardly into contact with the side walls and the flaps swung inwardly to transverse vertical position, the ends of the naps from the two sides substantially abut, and a reinforcing strip of length approximating the width of the front wall and adapted to fill the space above the front flaps and between the front wall and its extension when the drawer is assembled.

HARRY L. FELIDWEB. 

